Skip to main content

Los Angeles design firm produces unique housing solution for disabled veterans

los angeles firm designs homes for homeless veterans homelesshome4
Brooks and Scarpa
With the population of homeless disabled veterans on the rise in Los Angeles, local architecture and design firm Brooks and Scarpa took to the task of developing a reasonable and long-lasting solution. A project dubbed the Six, Brooks and Scarpa’s vision is a housing community comprised of 52 units which don’t just provide a place for disabled vets to live, but one which also affords rehabilitation and support. Considering Los Angeles is home to more than roughly 43,000 homeless people — of which nearly 3,000 are homeless vets — the Six hopes to slightly alleviate what’s becoming a rapidly growing problem in Southern California.

Instead of designing and building a shelter composed of 52 cookie-cutter rooms, Brooks and Scarpa decided to give the Six — located in LA’s MacArthur Park — a healthy helping of large public spaces. While the units do grant tenants their own private space, the firm intentionally “deemphasized” the creation of private areas to instead focus on bigger public spaces. Because of this, Brooks and Scarpa hope to allow the disabled veterans an opportunity to stray from a secluded lifestyle and enjoy their surrounding community.

“The ground level contains offices, support spaces for the veterans, bike storage, and parking while the second level has a large public courtyard,” said Brooks and Scarpa on its project page. “Surrounded by four levels of housing units with balconies wrapped with a wood screen made from recycled planking the courtyard has large openings with green roofs that visually connects the space to the street on the lower level beyond. This allows the tenants to enjoy a secured open space while still connecting to the larger community.”

Recommended Videos

In addition to these areas, the Six also features a green roof on its highest level, flanked by an open public patio and edible garden — not to mention gorgeous panoramic views of the MacArthur Park neighborhood. Speaking on its green roof, Brooks and Scarpa went into the project knowing it wanted to make the building as energy efficient as possible, intending to “exceed standard practice.”

By leaning on passive design strategies such as situating the building to control solar cooling loads and installing windows capable of making the best use of natural light, the firm was able to make the building 50 percent more efficient than typically designed structures.

The Six celebrated its grand opening last April and (unsurprisingly) each unit in the building is currently filled.

Rick Stella
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Rick became enamored with technology the moment his parents got him an original NES for Christmas in 1991. And as they say…
Black Friday battery deals: Save on AA and AAA batteries
AmazonsBasics AA batteries being inserted into a game controller.

If you plan to save big during the ongoing early Black Friday deals, batteries are something worth checking out. This is especially true if you’ve had your eye on smaller devices. TV remotes are likely going to need some battery power, so adding some Black Friday battery deals to your list could be beneficial if you’ve been checking out the early Black Friday 32-inch TV deals, early Black Friday 55-inch TV deals, early Black Friday 65-inch TV deals, or early Black Friday 75-inch TV deals. But there are plenty of things around the house worth keeping some batteries on-hand for, so we’ve organized all of the best Black Friday battery deals to shop right now. Don’t hesitate to make a purchase, as we’ve already seen the prices on some these deals go up, and there’s no telling if that will happen again.
HiQuick AA + AAA combo pack with charger — $21 $26 20% off

With this battery combo you’ll get four HiQuick AA batteries and four AAA batteries, as well as a wall charger that’s capable of charging both sizes. The charger has fast-charging capabilities and can charge all eight batteries at once. This deal is good for $5 in savings, which is 20% off the regular price.

Read more
30 early Black Friday deals for 2024: TVs, laptops, headphones
Digital Trends Best Black Friday Amazon Deals

Update 11/11/24: We’re officially on our way to Black Friday, and our coverage spans everything currently available at a discount. Check back regularly, as we’ll be adding to all of the best early Black Friday deals below as more and more deals pop up.

Black Friday may not officially be here yet, but early Black Friday deals have arrived, and they’re all worth shopping. We’re seeing plenty of great early Black Friday TV deals, early Black Friday laptop deals, early Black Friday smartwatch deals, and much, much more. Below we’re giving it all a home, and rounding up all of the best early Black Friday deals available right now. Scroll down through the aisle and don’t hesitate to make a purchase, as we’ve already seen pricing change several times and have even seen some deals disappear entirely.
SAMSUNG Galaxy SmartTag2 -- $21 $30 29% off

Read more
Early Black Friday chest freezer deals: up to 40% off today
The Insignia 7-cubic feet chest freezer placed in a garage.

Update 11/11/24: With so many great chest freezers on the market, it's probably no surprise that we're seeing a lot of early great Black Friday deals roll around. To that end, we've gone out and added a couple of new deals that we like, as well as updated all the current deals to their latest prices. Either way, be sure to check back as we update this article regularly!

While Black Friday officially starts on November 29, retailers are getting started early this year. That means great early Black Friday deals, including on things like chest freezers. Here, we search high and low for the best deals on chest freezers to hit the market. That means we're looking at sources like Walmart's, Amazon's, and Best Buy's early Black Friday deals among others to get you the best deals possible. Whether you're wanting to store ice cream, meat, or a party's worth of frozen pizza, these are the best chest freezers for you.
Hisense 5 cu. ft. Garage Ready Chest Freezer — $165 $189 13% off

Read more